The Alternative Right

Back when I was in high school my mother encountered a man who had once lived across the street from her family home. He and his brother had rented rooms there. Mama said that she had developed a crush on this man’s brother mostly because he was a student at Rice University and she always had a thing for highly intelligent men. Nothing ever came of her fantasies and she moved on into adulthood only to one day have a chance meeting with the old neighbor. She learned that the man was a widower, having lost his wife to cancer. He was lonely and raising children much like Mama. I suppose it was inevitable that he would eventually ask her out on a date. It seemed as though they had much in common but nothing might have been further from the truth.

After their first outing together my mom came home and insisted that she was never going to see this guy again. He was totally not her type even though he was quite handsome. He had not been particularly successful in life, never even attending college and constantly moving from one dead end job to another. Mama saw no future for them and that seemed to be the end of that. Unfortunately the man was quite persistent and my mama was far too kind to keep putting him off. Before she was even able to explain what had happened he had become a constant fixture around our house and not a particularly welcome one. In fact, I disliked him intensely mostly because of his politics.

He was a member of the John Birch Society, a crazy right wing group that hated Jews and essentially anyone who was not white. He spewed venom and did his best to recruit me into his way of thinking without ever realizing that I only became more and more disgusted with him. In the meantime he had woven a web around my mother from which she was unable to free herself. He was jealous and mean, often insinuating openly that he had connections that would allow him to rid himself of anyone who crossed him. My mama became so afraid of him that she ultimately had a complete nervous breakdown. When I told my uncles what he had been doing some of them visited the man’s home and essentially told him that he was never to call or see their sister again. I suppose that his bark had always been much bigger than his bite because he never again darkened our door. I felt a strong sense of good riddance and put him in my rearview mirror but I never forgot his disgusting political philosophies and luckily I never really encountered them again until recently.

As many of you know I have quite actively spoken out about Donald Trump. Many of his assertions have reminded me far too much of the hateful man who once so troubled my mother. I suspect that my dislike of Trump is somewhat visceral in nature because it brings back memories that were horrific for my mother and our family. I have seen his brand of ugliness up close and personal and I simply refuse to abide by it. I have posted my opinions of Trump on more than one discussion board and the rebuttals that I have received have been degenerate in nature and mostly aimed at my womanhood. In other words I have found the rats who have been hiding in the attic all along.

Yesterday I discovered the existence of a group that had been heretofore unknown to me and probably to most of you. They are known as the alternative right or by the more hip name of alt-right. This is a group of mostly young intellectuals whose far right philosophies are so extreme that they not only work to overturn progressives but also establishment conservatives. They have nothing but hate for traditional politicians like Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush. They are mostly male and form a new breed of white supremacists. You won’t find them hanging with rednecks or wearing sheets. Instead they use the Internet and social media to spread word of their movement. They hate Jews and all foreigners of any kind. They prefer isolationism and thus believe that the world would be better off if we were to simply allow Putin and Assad to run their own countries without any interference or commentaries from the United States. If they had their way Iraq would still be under the rule of Saddam Hussein. They print vile articles about the many ways that mixing races lowers IQs. They see women as the downfall of white men whom they see as being cuckolded by both minorities and feminists. In fact one of their most disgusting epithets is to call establishment Republicans “cuckservatives.”

I doubt that Donald Trump intended to become a darling of this group but he inadvertently has. When he began his campaign by announcing that he would build a wall between the United States and Mexico the alt-right went wild with glee. Nothing that he has since said has disappointed them. His comments about keeping Muslim immigrants out of the country is right up their alley. His constant insults aimed at women have inspired the once underground movement so much that they are openly emerging from the shadows. They sense that they have finally found the leader for whom they have been waiting and it is the Donald. They post memes of him wearing golden armor like a noble knight. He is their hero.

When I began to research this group I became more and more frightened as I uncovered the extent of their rancid thinking. I began to fear that many Americans are playing into their hands while being totally unaware that they even exist. It is important that all good people understand that there are forces as work who are using the anger and the difficulties of certain groups to push their personal agendas forward and those agendas are not good. Perhaps even Donald Trump himself is being used. These are not typical conservative Republicans. These are very bad people with very bad ideas. They are tech savvy and they know how to spew their propaganda effectively.

I know many people who are kind and loving who are Donald Trump fans. I do not look down on them nor do I wish in any way to impugn them but I wonder if they realize that a group like alt-right is supporting Trump so enthusiastically. Would they be so quick to pledge him their allegiance if they knew more about some of his followers? Would they want to be in the same camp as openly racist organizations? Real conservative Republicans are not sexist nor racists nor anti-Semitic. They believe in upholding the Constitution as it was written and in policies of free enterprise. Whether you agree with them are not, they are not nearly as dangerous as the alt-right enthusiasts who are plotting to rid the country of established Republicans forever along with progressives and minorities. Perhaps some of the people who have heretofore thought that Trump should be the next president might want to give a second look at other conservatives who are not so inclined to rabid and rotten thinking that appeals to the alt-right.

There are certain conservative magazines that are doing their best to make the public aware of the intentions of the alternative right. National Review which was founded by William F. Buckley has been particularly outspoken in sounding the alarms. Other news sources such as Buzzfeed and The Federalist have posted revealing articles about the beliefs and intent of the alt-right and its connection to the adoration of Donald Trump.

It is incumbent upon all Americans to do their homework. Google “alternative right” and find out for yourselves who they are and what they are doing. We can’t afford to blindly follow anyone who is winning votes from such a group. We have to stand firm to keep America from descending into a state of immorality. It may be the most important thing that any of us ever do.